


Pines Dragon

by MidnightCreator



Series: Dragon Mom AU [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dragon Mom AU, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7622620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightCreator/pseuds/MidnightCreator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stan Pines has seen a number of oddities during the last year he has lived in Gravity Falls.<br/>Gnomes. Fairies. Talking vegetables. A giant, furry, fire breathing, mother hen of a beast.<br/>'Only in Gravity Falls, Oregon' is becoming his new catchphrase.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragon Cave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pinesinthewoods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinesinthewoods/gifts).



> Sooooo the tumblr pinesinthewoods has been talking about a Dragon Mom AU.  
> And I like dragons and have been wanting to write a dragon thing.  
> So, here we go.  
> It's multi-chaptered by the way.  
> Next part coming....at some point...hopefully within the year.  
> Enjoy.

Stan had often considered himself a magnet for bad luck.  
Thrown out of house and home at seventeen, landing in jail three times, nearly dying in a car trunk. But falling through a snow drift, down a hole and landing in a cave while looking for his brother’s journals had seemed to take the cake.  
Up to the point where he found that he was sharing said cave with a dragon.  
It didn’t look quite like the ones portrayed in kids’ books. Rather then slimy snake scales and leathery bat wings, the beast before him was covered in thick, red fur with golden markings and feathery wings with varying shades of red and gold on each feather, but it was most differently a dragon.  
A sleeping dragon, thank Paul Bunyan.  
It was curled up like some huge cat with its wings and tail wrapped neatly around its middle and the legs under it. Only the neck and head was outstretched, with the muzzle only a few paces from where Stan stood frozen in shock and fear.  
With its head so close, Stan could see quite clearly see the two, sharp horns that curved back and up on its head, the large ears that twitched every few moments, the slight ruffling of the fur around its nostrils with every exhale.  
Stan slightly prayed for the creature not to wake. He could be quick on his feet but outrunning a dragon seemed to be a bit much to ask and he doubted that he could smooth-talk his way out of becoming the beast’s next meal.  
He would have liked to stay far away from it, but ut was lying in front of Stan’s only exit. The only other tunnel was at his back and led into the cave he’d fell into and the only way out that way was to climb up a steep slope of moss slick stone.  
So that left the small pathway around the dragon.  
Painstakingly slowly, Stan shuffled his way as far around the creature as he could, holding his breath each time the creature took a partially deep inhale or shifted slightly.  
Inch by inch, he got around the creatures bulk and moved carefully to the tunnel on the other side of it.  
He silently cheered when he was only a few more steps from freedom.  
But, Stan Pines was not a lucky man.  
His foot, the one connected to his bad knee unfortunately, slipped on a mossy rock, sending him to the ground with a loud yelp of pain and surprise before he froze again.  
The dragons head shot up and whipped around, ears up, bright blue eyes open and awake and staring right at the human crumpled on the cave floor.  
The two stared at each other, with Stan finding it harder to breath as the moments ticked by.  
The dragon blinked at him and tilted its head, as if asking what he was.  
Stan scrabbled into a sitting position and pressed himself against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible as the dragon moved its head closer to him.  
“H-hey there, fancying seeing you here!” Might as well and see if one could smooth talk a dragon. “Listen, I image you are wondering what little ol’ me is doing in your…er, lovely cave.”  
The dragon tilted its head the other way.  
“Right, well, you see I was just talking a good hike though the woods and, wouldn’t you know it, feel down a hole! Crazy, am I right?”  
The dragon blinked owlishly.  
“Right, just my thoughts exactly. So, I am just passing on through and I fully plan to be out of your cave very soon,” Stan flashed a smile and stood up, keeping his back firmly against the wall. “You can go back to your nap and I will be on my way.”  
Stan chuckled, hoping it didn’t betray his fear.  
The dragon’s ears twitched forward and it made a deep rumbling noise that sounded very close to a chuckle.   
His eyes snapped shut when the snout came close enough for the beasts hot breath to ruffle his hair, mind screaming that he was about to be roasted alive and eaten.  
But rather then flames, or teeth, he felt a muzzle gently press against his shoulder and a quite purr like noise rumbled next to his ear.  
Slowly, Stan cracked an eye open and moved his head so he could see what exactly the dragon was doing.  
The dragon looked to be just curious as to what the little hairless thing in its cave was. Thank goodness for small miracles in Stan’s option. But the thing was still far, far to close for his comfort.  
He tensed it started to sniff down his torso and arms, before it made another low rumbling noise and huffed another hot breath into his face.  
‘O-kaaaaay,’ Stan thought to himself as he watched the dragons’ movements. The thing was not being as aggressive as Stan imagined a dragon would be, it fact its behavior so far reminded was more like a big dog that found something it had never seen before.  
“You’re…um, a bit close for comfort fella.”  
A hot puff of air hit Stan in the face as the dragon made a disapproving snort.  
“Girl! Girl, not fella.”  
The dragon bobbed her head and made a noise that was close to a purr.   
“Right, of course you’re a girl dragon. Only a woman would be as beautiful as you!”  
The dragoness purred and nudged his shoulder, towards the tunnel Stan had been trying to get to in the first place.  
“Great! I’ll just show myself out. Good day Dragon ma’am.”  
Stan made a quick pace to the exit, or what he hoped was an exit.   
Again, luck was against him.  
The tunnel opened into another chamber and there were three tunnels that branched out from it.  
He had a string of frustrated curses on his tongue, but a hot puff of air and a large muzzle nudging him towards the far right tunnel caused him to pause.  
Stan tensed at the contact but, since the dragoness hadn’t tried to set him aflame yet, he allowed himself to be guided through more tunnels and chambers by the creature.  
The cave was quite large, as it turned out, and Stan was quite thankful he had a guide.  
It took a good fifteen minutes before Stan smelled fresh air and another five before his boots crunched against snow.  
Stan grinned as he inhaled the sharp, cold air deeply.  
A low rumble that sounded almost like a chuckle had him looking over his shoulder at the dragoness that had followed him outside.  
In the open, she looked much smaller. In fact, Stan noticed, her shoulders were only a few inches higher then himself when she was on all fours. Most of her ‘bulk’ actually came from her feathery wings while her body was quite lean looking.  
Hesitantly, Stan stretched out a hand. When his palm touched the thick red fur on her neck, he was surprised how warm the dragon felt, “Thanks for…urm, thanks for helping me out.”  
The dragoness purred and leaned into his touch.  
Stan suppress a small chuckle as he patted the creatures neck, “Well, I’m off. See ya dragon lady.”  
With one final pet, Stan trudged off through the snow back to his Mystery Shack.


	2. Dragon's Hoard

Stan didn’t venture back to the cave for two days after his dragon encounter. Not out of fear, more out of the fact his burn was acting up again and he was trying to get as much work done as he was able on the machine in the basement during the off season.  
When he did finally go back to journal hunting, he wondered if that dragon he’d run into had one hidden in her cave.   
What better place to hide something important to you that you didn’t want anyone finding then in a cave with a fire breathing dragon?  
He didn’t come back to the cave because he missed the dragon. He’d only given her a pat on the neck.  
No, he was here to snoop in the cave for…her treasure hoard he guessed. Unless dragons hoarding gold was just something in stories too.  
It took him half an hour to find the cave again, the real entrance and not the hole in the ceiling he’d fallen in.   
But he hesitated at the entrance. He knew the cave was pretty much a labyrinth and he only knew the route to where the dragon had been napping and he had seen a lot of tunnels in the caverns.  
But then again, it was one of the few places he had not searched.  
His foot steps echoed off the cave walls as he walked. The tunnel seemed to be much bigger without the dragon filling up most of the space.  
When he got to the first cavern, he paused again.  
This cave had the most openings in it, six tunnels and six ways to go.  
He knew that the one right across from the entrance led to another open space with two tunnel choices and the tunnel on the right led to another cave with four choices.  
Stan sighed pinched the bridge of his nose. The cave was as bad as the labyrinth in that old Greek story with the bull-man thing in it.  
“How am I even going to find anything in this maze?”  
His answer came in a loud thump.  
Stan whipped around to see the dragon folding her wings and walking into the cave.  
Her blue eyes seemed to light up when she saw him and she made a low rumbling noise of greeting.  
Stan couldn’t help but smile as the dragon nudged his shoulder and puffed a warm breath into his neck.  
“Hello to you too girl.” He patted the dragons muzzle and she purred in response. “Didn’t think you would miss me.”  
She huffed softly, as if saying ‘of course I missed you’.  
Stan chuckled, “Hey, think you can help me out girl?”  
The dragons ears perked up and she pulled her head back a bit.  
“I’m…well, I’m trying to find a book and I thought that…maybe it’s in your cave somewhere? I mean, what better place to hide something then with a dragon?”  
The dragon chuckled, deep and rumbling, then gave Stan a small nudge.  
Once again, Stan allowed himself to be guided through the cave by the dragons muzzle pushing him in the right directions while mentally mapping out the way.  
“How do you ever find your way in this place?”  
The dragon snorted and rumbled again, as if saying, ‘I live here’.  
“Right, dumb question.”  
The dragon chuckled and nudged him into a particularly narrow tunnel.  
What waited on the other side made Stan’s jaw drop.  
The cave was very big, one of the biggest so far, and it was full of stuff.  
Oh sure, there were gold and gemstones like one would expect to see in a dragon hoard, but there was also shells, glass bottles, hunks of scrap metal, rusted tools, cracked flower pots, broken toys, even a few books stacked up in two piles.  
Stan stepped into the chamber, eyes taking in the various items stacked up.  
“Wow…glad I came in the morning.”  
The dragon laughed. Or at least, it sounded like a laugh. It was deep and rumbling and bounced loudly off the walls of the cave.  
Stan couldn’t help but laugh too, his gruff voice complementing the dragons quite nicely.  
Still chuckling, Stan wandered over to the book stack and started to go through them.  
The dragon assisted as best she could in his search, but three hours of going through every pile yielded no results.  
They searched the rest of the cave, but that too turned up nothing, only a full circle back into the treasure room.  
With a heavy sigh, Stan fell against the cave wall and slid to the floor, “Should’ve known.” He mumbled to himself, hugging his knees to his chest and burying his face in them.  
He heard the dragon make a low crooning sound and he felt her nudge his shoulder.  
“I’ll be out of here in a minute,” he mumbled. She snorted and moved away from him.  
Stan was only partly listening to the dragon’s movements while his own negative thoughts began to swirl in his mind.  
‘You’re never getting Ford back. You’ve been at this for over a year and made barely any progress. You can’t even find the other two journals. You might as well throw the towel-‘  
His thoughts were interrupted when something was dropped on his neck.  
The dragon was in front of him again, with a few gemstones and gold coins in one of her fore claws. The object she’d dropped around Stan’s neck was a golden amulet with a large, deep purple stone surrounded by smaller blue gems.  
The dragon made a low rumbling noise and dropped the items in her claws at Stan’s feet.  
“Uh…thanks,” Stan collected the treasure, examining each piece of gold and brightly colored gem. “Can’t deny this stuff is pretty nice.”  
The dragoness purred and nuzzled his neck, huffing a warm breath onto his cheek.  
Stan didn’t even hesitate in reaching up and running his hands on either side of her jaw.  
He was surprised at how soothing it was, with the dragon purring and nuzzling his neck gently while he petted the side of her face and scratched around her ears.  
They stayed like that for a long time before Stan picked himself up.  
He didn’t need the dragon to guide him, but she followed anyway. She stayed by his side all the way down to the Mystery Shack and gave him one final nuzzle before he went inside.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They started visiting each other much more often after that.  
When Stan wasn’t trekking up to her cave, the dragon would come down to the shack.  
She would even squeeze inside by folding her wings flat against her back and walking around in a crouch. When there were people visiting, she would either hang out upstairs or in the tree line until the coast was clear.  
During his down time, Stan took to either visiting the dragons cave or, if she had come over to his place, he would settle down with her in the living room and they would watch TV. He would often lie down against her shoulder and tell her about a particularly stubborn customer or the gnomes he’d chased out of his kitchen.  
Stan found talking to the dragon to be quite therapeutic so when he worked on the portal, he would open up the second entrance on the outside of the house so she could come down with him.   
At some point, he started to tell her about Ford. It was their shared childhood at first, about how they would look for mysteries on the beach, when they found the Stan O’ War, how Stan would protect his brother from bullies.  
He told her about the fancy college Ford had wanted to go to and how he had accidently broken Ford’s project because of his dumb temper, about his dad throwing him out and what all had happened to him on the streets for ten years.  
When he finally told her what had happened to Ford when he saw him last he was lying against her shoulder in the basement, he shoulder aching and eyes fixed on the metal machine on the other side of the observation window.  
By the time he got to where Ford had vanished through the blue void, he had his face buried in the dragon’s red-gold fur and fighting back tears.  
The dragoness crooned softly and wrapped one of her wings around him while he insisted that he just had dust in his eyes. It didn’t do much to stop her from using her very cat-like tongue to lick tears off his cheek and hugging him with her wing.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I should really give you some kind of name.”  
The dragon, who had been watching the TV, turned her head to look at him and twitched her ears.  
“I mean, we’ve known each other for, what, three months? And calling you just ‘Dragon’ or ‘Dragon Lady’ is a bit weird at this point,” he looked up at her. “And you can’t really tell me your name.”  
The dragoness bobbed her head and made a low rumble.  
“I was thinking about a few names while I was working. Thought Sheba would be a good fit for you.” He’d also considered calling her Cassandra or Clara, but neither seemed to fit the dragoness.  
Said creature looked to be turning the name over in her mind before making a chirp of approve and nuzzling Stan’s neck.  
Stan laughed and scratched around her ears, “Glad you approve. Sheba it is then.”  
Sheba laughed along with him before making a few clicking noises in her throat in what Stan assumed to be another noise of approval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dragons make good therapy animals.


	3. First Meeting, First Flight

“AH! What am I even out here at night?!”  
Stan paused to listen and then sighed in relief when the kids started to laugh.  
Rubbing the side of his head where the plastic eyeball hit him, he trekked into the forest.  
His grand niece and nephew had been living with him for a few weeks and visiting Sheba head become a bit more difficult without raising suspicions. Soos had already almost caught on three times since he hired the kid.  
Sheba was not happy at having to stop bunking in Stan’s room, but she moved back into her cave with little complaint when Stan promised to visit as often as he could.  
So, he snuck out at night, twice a week, and made the thirty minute hike up to Sheba’s cave.  
“Sheba?”  
His call was met with a happy noise that sounded close to a bark and a very happy dragon bounding out of the shadows.  
“Hey girl,” Stan laughed as the dragoness nuzzled his neck and made a series of clicking sounds. Her way, Stan figured out a few years back, of saying his name. “Sorry I haven’t been up to much.”  
She purred and huffed into his neck.  
“Those kids are smart, can’t ever be too careful around them.”  
Sheba huffed again and nudged Stan further into the cave.  
“I’ve actually been…thinking.”  
Sheba gave a questioning rumble as she settled down in a nest of moss and raised a wing for Stan to lie against her side.  
“I know I wanted to keep you a secret so the kids wouldn’t get mixed up in any supernatural junk…but maybe we should tell ‘em about you.”  
She made another questioning sound as she draped her wing around Stan.  
“I haven’t really made a decision….but I am considerin’ it,” He yawned and snuggled under the warm feathers of Sheba’s wing.  
The dragoness purred and curled around Stan while he drifted into sleep.

*********

The way the twins found out about Sheba was not exactly the way Stan had thought they would.  
He had actually been planning on taking them all up to her cave.  
But, things hardly ever went according to Stan’s plans.  
They got to meet the dragoness when she came charging out of the woods with a roar and started to fight off the hoard of zombies around the Shack.  
Her screeching and roaring had caused Stan to come running upstairs and he ran right into the kids on his way to see what had Sheba so up in arms.  
While the dragon fought off the zombies outside, Stan and the kids barricaded themselves in the attic.  
One invisible ink discovery and a cheesy pop song later found them all in the living room with a dragon crouched next to Stan.  
“I can’t believe you have a DRAGON!” Mabel was bouncing in place while her brother just stared in shock.  
“She isn’t really mine per say,” Stan patted Sheba’s neck as she blinked at the twins. “She comes over here, I go to her cave. We pretty much have a kinda….dragon human friendship going on.”  
“Okay but still! Big, pretty, fluffy, dragon!” Sheba smiled and leaned towards Mabel with a quiet purr.  
The girl squealed in delight and all but jumped onto Sheba’s face.  
“First the knowing about all the weird stuff and now…this?” Dipper gestured towards the dragon, who was purring as Mabel hugged her head.  
“Well, I was plannin’ on telling you kids. Minus the, you know, zombies.”  
“Ah, I’m sorry guys,” Dipper sighed and ducked his head. “I totally ruined everything.”  
“Dipper, are you kidding?” Mabel detached herself from Sheba and went over to her brother. “I got to sing karaoke with my two favorite people and met a dragon! No party could ever top that.”  
Stan smiled briefly before kneeling between the twins, “Kids, listen, this town is crazy. You need to be careful, I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt on my watch. You can keep the Journal if you two promise to use it for self-defense but I don’t want you two looking for trouble.”  
“Okay,” Dipper said then added. “Only as long as you don’t have anymore bombshell secrets about this town.”  
“Promise,” Stan agreed, with his fingers crossed behind his back.  
“Promise,” Dipper and Mabel agreed in unison.  
Sheba rumbled happily and nuzzled Stan before giving the twins a snuggle each.  
“Alright, alright, enough sap,” Stan patted Sheba’s neck. “We got a lot of zombie damage to clean up. Where’s my handyman?”  
“Braaaains…”  
“Holy Moses!” Stan grabbed up his bat while Sheba spun with a hiss, nearly beaming the kids with her tail.  
“Wait, wait,” Dipper opened the journal. “There is a cure for zombification, but we’ll need a lot of formaldehyde”  
Mabel peeked over her brother’s shoulder, “Ooh and cinnamon.”

***************

Once Soos was cured, he was nearly as ecstatic as Mabel to meet Sheba, saying that he wondered where Mr. Pines kept sneaking off to as he scratched the dragon’s neck.  
They cleaned and patched the Shack back together as best they could, which was much faster when you had a dragon helping.  
When things were back in order, the group settled in the living room to watch Duck-tective reruns with everyone leaning on Sheba’s side.  
It didn’t take long for each human to fall asleep. Fighting zombies and, in one case, becoming a zombie took a lot out of a person.  
Sheba purred happily as she watched over the humans.

********

Wendy had quite the surprise of her life when she came into work to find a dragon sweeping the museum up with her tail.  
The kids had come in to the cashier trying to brain Sheba with a chair while the dragon did her best to dodge without knocking over any displays.  
When the kids final managed to explain to Wendy that Sheba was friendly, the teen flushed a bit in embarrassment.  
“Sorry about that,” Wendy grinned apologetically up at the red-furred dragon. Sheba chuckled and head butted the red-heads shoulder.  
“She forgives you,” Stan said from where he was putting the few attrations Sheba had accidently knocked into. “Now get to work so she can clear out.”  
Sheba snorted at Stan and nipped at his sleeve playfully before giving him a goodbye nuzzle and heading back to her cave.

********

“Grunkle Stan has Dragon Mom ever taken you flying?”  
Stan blinked at Mabel, “Dragon Mom?”  
“Don’t answer my question with a question! This is very important!”  
“I was scared to death of heights until you tricked me into going up on the water tower.”  
Mabel gasped and grabbed her Grunkle’s hand, “You’ve never gone flying with Sheba!”  
“No?”  
Mabel pulled Stan up out of his chair and out the door to where Dipper was examining one of Sheba wings while the dragoness lay patently.  
“SHEBA YOU NEED TO TAKE GRUNKLE STAN FLYING!”  
Sheba’s head shot up and she blinked down at the twelve year old dragging an equally surprised sixty something year old behind her.  
“Mabel, this isn’t really necessary,” Stan tried to take his hand back but Mabel was surprisingly strong for a girl her age.  
Sheba lowered her head so she was on a better eye level with Mable and gave a questioning curr.  
“Grunkle Stan needs to go flying on you! It is an emergency!”  
“Mabel, I’m sure if Grunkle Stan wanted to fly he would,” Dipper said while he stood and dust his shorts off.  
“But he hasn’t!” Mabel protest.  
“If I climb on and let her take me for a spin will you be satisfied?”  
Mabel nodded at her great uncle and released his hand.  
Stan sighed and walked over to Sheba’s shoulder, “Can’t escape it Sheba.”  
The dragon chuckled and crouched so Stan could climb up on her back, just in front of where the wings connected to her back.  
“Get up here you grimlines!” He called, gripping Sheba’s scruff with one hand and holding out the other. “If I’m doing this you two are coming too.”  
Mabel made a excited noise and clambered up. Dipper held back until Sheba made an encouraging rumble and nudged him.  
With the kids settled in front of Stan he patted Sheba’s neck before grabbing on.  
The dragoness rumbled and spread her wings before taking a running start.  
The twins yelled, one in delight the other in excitement mixed with terror, as they left the ground with a rush of wind.  
Stan shut his eyes and tightened his grip until the initial jolt passed.  
When he opened his eyes again, the pine trees were far below him.  
Mabel cheered and started talking a mile a minute, while Dipper stared in absolute awe.  
The ground looked so far away, heck Stan thought all the problems and stress of his life looked far away.  
“THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!” Mabel yelled as she hugged Sheba’s neck.

*************

Sheba started letting her human friends take a ride a lot more after that.  
Soos never took her up on the flying but he did enjoy just riding her.  
Mabel would jump at any opportunity to go flying. Sheba, however, limited Mabel’s riding time mostly due to the fact she would often get so excited she would fall of Sheba’s back and the dragoness would carry her home in a fore claw.  
Dipper didn’t ride as often as his sister but he did ask Sheba for a quick spin whenever he need some space.  
Wendy liked to see how fast Sheba could go, whooping and hollering while Sheba twist and turned in the sky.  
Stan rode her often too, most in early morning or late at night. The flights became a stress reliever for him, helping ease out some of then tension of what was soon to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heard a couple people in the commets say they wanted the twins to me Dragon Ma.  
> Ta-ta!  
> Now we just gotta bring Ford on in.


	4. Calm Before The Storm

Sheba, thank goodness in Stan’s option, had stayed away from the Shack during the FBI’s raid. She didn’t, however, allow Stan to run all the way back to the shack after he escaped police custody.

Stan yelped in surprise when burst out of the trees and shoved her head under him so he ended up on her back

“No flying! They have helicopters.” Sheba gave a short grunt and ran as fast as she could, with Stan clinging to her scruff. 

When Sheba skidded to a halt next to the side entrance, Stan jumped off and flung the doors open. He vaguely heard Sheba closing the door as he thundered down the stairs and into the control room.

“DON’T PUSH THAT BUTTON.”

*****************

Of all the ways he imaged him and his brother reuniting, a punch to the face was not on Stanley’s list. He also didn’t foresee that when thing started to get a bit more physical between Ford and himself, Sheba would grab him up by his collar and growl at Ford.

“Sheba! I told you to stop doing that!” Sheba snorted and glared at a very shocked Stanford but didn’t put him down until things had calmed and the kids and Soos demanded explanations. Even then, she still kept glaring at Ford and stayed pressed against Stan’s side until he and everyone else went upstairs.

She was not happy at having to stay in the basement while they took care of the agents, but she waited until Stan opened up the outside entrance and gave her an all clear. She nuzzled Stan and huffed into his neck before slipping into the house.

****************

Stan sighed heavily as he trudged up to his room. Once again, things with Ford did not go as he thought they would.

A part of him had hoped they would talk it out, have a high six and thing would be okay again. Instead he got the equitant of an eviction notice.

Stan opened his bedroom door and found Sheba lying next to the bed. He smiled a bit at her welcoming rumble and sat down next to her, “Yeesh, today was even crazier then that zombie fiasco.” He sighed pinched the bridge of his nose

Sheba gave a grunt of agreement and wrapped a wing around Stan.

“Wish it all hadn’t gone south.”

Sheba purred sympathetically before sticking her head under the bed and pulling out a large chest.

“You always now what to do to make me feel better,” Stan chuckled and flipped the lid open.

Inside the chest sat Stan’s personal hoard.

Most of the contents were things Sheba had given him. Gold and gems, brightly colored stones, seashells and an old Pitt Cola bottle from who knew how many years ago. There was also a little model boat that Stan had found while he was looking for journals, some old photographs of when he and Ford were kids and a black notebook.

Stan pulled a gold chain off his neck and held up an amulet with a purple gem surrounded by smaller blue gems.

“Remember when you gave me this?”

Sheba rumbled, as if saying, ‘how could I forget.’

“Still can’t believe I used to be scared of you. You’re just a big ol’ sap.”

She barked a laugh at that and head butted Stan’s shoulder.

“I know, I know. Must be old age softenin’ me up.”

Sheba laughed again while Stan put the amulet back around his neck. He picked up the black book and opened it to a blank page, marked by a pen. 

“Welp,” he sighed as he picked the pen up and leaned against Sheba’s shoulder. “Not really the entry I though I’d be putting in here today.”

**************

It became very clear very quickly that Sheba did not like Ford.

The constant glares, hisses and growls whenever she deemed Stanford to close to herself or Stan were the first indicator. The second came when Ford had gone outside while Sheba was sunning so he could sketch her in his journal.

He came back in with a light gray coating all over and reeking of smoke. He attempted documenting her three more times before the message ‘I don’t want you drawing me’ got threw his head. He settled for studying the note Dipper had taken down about Sheba.

When he asked the kids how they were able to get along with the dragoness so well, they both shrugged and said that they just did. Ford was puzzled to no end at why the dragoness got along good with everyone else but him.

He often saw her with Stan, weather she was helping him make new attractions, watching TV with him or, on one occasion, he spotted the two taking off for an early morning flight. And she always acted warm and friendly towards Stan. Same with the kids and the handyman and the red haired girl who worked the cash register, she always greeted them warmly and would nuzzle their neck or lick their cheeks.

Ford, however, was the victim of cold looks and bared teeth and smoke being blown in his face. He had no clue what he had done to make the dragon dislike him so much. He had only been here for a few days and spent most of his time in the basement and yet Sheba seemed to hate his guts.

Which is partly why he was so surprised when she tagged along on his and Dippers mission. 

She had come trotting after them with a yell from Mabel to look after the two nerd twins before the little girl ran off in the direction of town.

When Sheba caught up, she fell in pace next to Dipper, who patted her neck and earned a quite purr. Ford got his usual icy blue glare, which he ignored in favor of thinking of ways the dragoness could be useful on their trip.

She turned out to be quite helpful, if not for Stanford himself then for his great-nephew. 

Ford winced sympathetically when Dipper shot straight up instead of hitting the metal pillar and made a loud crash when he hit the roof. He saw a flash of red as Sheba fluttered up to where Dipper was and heard her low rumble echo down. Dipper’s exclamation of ‘Sheba!’ also echoed and was followed by said dragon gliding down from the ceiling with Dipper’s vest collar in her mouth. The boy had the brim of his cap pulled down so it hid his eyes and his cheeks were flushed in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry to much my boy. Took me quite a while to get the hang of these…and find the right frequency that it didn’t stick to my head,” Ford rapped his knuckles on his forehead so the plate over his skull clanged.

Dipper snorted and nodded as Sheba placed him on his feet.

They continued on their way, with Sheba still staying close to Dipper and ignoring Ford for the most part. Right up until the offer for apprenticeship was brought up.

“What about school?”

“Dipper I have twelve PhDs,” Ford replied, putting a hand on Dippers shoulder. “Your parents would be thrilled I can give you such an advanced education.”

Dipper sighed, “There’s also Mabel. She’d be all alone in California-” 

“Mabel will be fine on her own. She has a magnetic personality. I watched her become pen pals with the pizza delivery man during the sixty seconds he was at the door.”

“Gosh, we’ve never really been apart before.”

“And isn’t it suffocating?”

A loud squawk and clang made both humans jump and jerk their head in the direction of Sheba. The dragoness stood frozen where she had been digging threw a pile of metal hexagon plates, with her jaw slack and eyes wide.

“What? Something spook you?” Ford shrugged at her, which only made Sheba snap her jaw shut in a growl before slinking off to another pile.

Ford shook his head and looked back at Dipper, “Anyway, can you honestly tell me Dipper that you haven’t felt you were meant for something more?”

Dipper turned and faced his reflection in only of the glass door pods, “I-I don’t know. It sounds like a dream come true but I’m not sure I have what it takes. I was tricked by Bill, I was wrong about Stan’s portal.” He pulled the magnet gun Ford had given him out of his bag. “I can’t even operate thing magnet gun right.” As if to prove his point, the gun activated and one of the hexagon plates stuck to it with a clang. As the boy struggled with it, a wide grin split Ford’s face when he saw the purple colored goop on the back side.

“Dipper! You found the adhesive!”

“I did?” Dipper blinked and looked at the plate.

Ford laughed and knelt down to dethatch the gun from the plate, “You really did it kid! Quick, huddle in and let’s get a picture of this."

Ford was cut of by a Sheba growling and bounding over so she was behind them. He sighed, annoyed that she insisted on voicing her dislike of him at this moment. His annoyance ebbed when he noticed how nervous Dipper had become.

“Grunkle Ford, are you sure everything down here is dead?”

Ford furrowed his brow a bit at the question before looking over at Sheba. She was crouched in a stance he had seen before in wild animals that were bracing for a fight, her wings were spared, her ears were pinned back and the fur along her spine stood on end. He couldn’t see her face but he could hear her deep growl.

“Everything is supposed to be,” He answered as he stood and held the magnet gun at the ready just as a steady humming sound started to echo around the chamber. “Unless we somehow reactivated…the security system!”

No sooner had the realization hit Ford, three transparent spheres with upside-down triangles on the front floated into view. Sheba hissed and Ford could see smoke rising from where her head was.

“What do we do, what do we do?” Dipper whispered as he and Ford took a few steps back.

“Dipper, listen to me very carefully, I’ve studied these. Their security droids and they detect adrenaline. You simply have to not feel any fear and they won’t see you.”

“What?!” Dipper exclaimed at the same time Sheba made a questioning noise between a hiss and a rumble.

“It’s okay, I’ve done it before. Just take a deep breath, focus on your intellect, and control your fear.”

“W-w-what? That’s crazy, I-”

“Follow my lead,” Ford interrupted, already burying his fear deep into his mind.

“Great Uncle Ford-”

“Focus Dipper,” Ford vaguely heard Sheba make a short chirrup of protest but he didn’t acknowledge it. He had confidence in Dipper’s abilities, the kid could concur his fear if he only focused.

Ford felt a bit of his confidence waning when his great nephews panicked breaths reached his ears. He glanced over to Dipper just as one of the droids armed its weapons.

“I can’t!”

Ford compositor shattered at those two words, the two little words that sound so young and terrified and reminded him that the person standing next to him was just a child.

“Get down!” Meditation technique forgotten, Ford grabbed up the boy and rolled them both out of the way of fire, Sheba’s screech shook the walls around them as Ford landed and spun around, taking aim at one of the two droids that Sheba was not attacking with claws, teeth and fire. No sooner had Stanford fired, pained exploded in his shoulder that caused him to cry out and fall onto his back. His shot had made its mark and Sheba was finishing off the second sphere, which left the third. Ford sat up and was immediately captured by the third drone, being dragged into it by four steel cables.

He yelled and struggled until he was on his front. He looked up and saw Dipper picking himself up. He slid the rift across the floor and hoped Dipper would be able to handle sealing the rift.

Once again, Dipper had done the opposite of what Ford had expected of the boy. Dipper ran after the droid, stuffing the rift into his pack and duct taping the magnet gun to his hand. The drone picked up speed and Dipper started to fall behind, until a red blur of fur and feathers charged around the corner and plucked Dipper up by his vest. Ford yelled at them to just leave him, but they pursued with Dipper yelling they were going to save him while he wrestled with the magnet gun.

Ford felt sure they would lose him when the droid melded into a spacecraft and prepared for take off. He was surprised when, right as the takeoff reached to zero, Dipper shot out of Sheba’s grip and stuck to the side of the prison ship with a clang. Ford jolted violently as the ship rocketed up out of the main ship.

The prison drone flew in spirals and emitting a shrill beeping when Dipper punched it, with Ford being tossed about like a rag doll inside. The pod gave another hard jolt when it blasted threw the Gravity Falls water tower. Stanford jerked upwards violently and the back of his head hit the wall of his prison hard before his world went to pitch black.

*****************

When Ford came back around, he was greeted by the sight of his great nephew standing with his shoulders squared and feet planted, pointing the magnet gun at another security drone and yelling at it to take its best shot.

He laughed in a mixture of pride and relief when the drone gave a shudder and dropped like a rock, “Haha! Oh, I thought I was a goner kid.” He chuckled between coughing and wincing in pain.

“Are you alright?” Dipper panted out as he helped Ford shuffle over to the edge of the trench. “What happened.”

“The orb didn’t detect any chemical signs of fear,” Ford explained. “It assumed the threat was neutralized and self disassembled.”

“ I-I did it.”

“You did it.” Ford beamed at Dipper, who blinked back in complete shock at his own actions. “This is what I was talking about. How many other twelve year olds do you think are capable of doing what you’ve just done?”

Dipped blinked again before a small smile appeared on his face, “I-I really did it.”

Ford nodded and returned Dippers smile with one his own.

The moment was cut short, however, by the sound of a large dragoness landing far to fast and madding loud bark like noises. Sheba tumbled into the trench rather ungracefully, wings flapping madly and limbs flailing and with Dipper’s blue and white hat in her teeth. She barked again and bounded over to them, dropping that hat on Dipper’s head before sniffing him all over and licking at his scrapes.

“Hey, take it easy, I’m okay Sheba, I’m okay,” Dipper pushed at the dragon’s muzzle. She snorted at him, lick at a particularly nasty looking scrape on the boy’s cheek before he sapphire eyes turned to Stanford.

Ford tensed when Sheba moved over to him and repeated the same process she had gone though with Dipper, sniffing him up and down and licking at his injuries. He winced when her rough tongue ran over the injury on his shoulder where the drone had shot him, “We need to get back and seal the rift.”

“You can fuss over us later Sheba,” Dipper smiled up at the dragon, who snorted in response before grabbing the back of Ford’s trench coat. The said man gave a yelp as he was lifted up and placed on Sheba’s back. Ford instinctively grabbed her scruff and tightened his knees. “I can walk.” He protested

“Good luck convincing her,” Dipper said as he climbed aboard in front of Ford. “Just, no flying right now, okay Sheba? I think Great Uncle Ford and I have had enough of flying for awhile.”

Sheba snorted in agreement and starting walking back in the direction of the house.

“You sure you’re okay Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper asked, turning slightly so he could look up at Ford.

“I’m fine, nothing I can’t shake off,” Ford would have waved a hand dismissively, but he didn’t really like the idea of risking a fall off Sheba. “But, listen to me Dipper, this town is a magnet for things that are special and that includes you and me. It brought the two of us here for a purpose. Stay here with me Dipper, become my apprentice, don’t let anyone hold you-” a ragged cough interrupted Ford’s speech.

Dipper winced sympathetically before putting his hand over his Great Uncle’s, “I’ll do it. I’m gonna stay.”

“Excellent.” Ford beamed. “Now who wants to save the world…apprentice.”

The two laughed, not noticing low rumble of disapprove and concern from the dragon or the static crackling of the radio in Dipper’s backpack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...things about to get crazy in the next chapter  >:)


	5. When the Rain Passes

A week ago, the sky had opened up and Gravity Falls was consumed by absolute chaos. Four days ago, an elderly con artist and his dragon had started to take in people and supernatural creatures alike, offering them safety from the weirdness. Two days ago, a pair of twelve year olds had appeared out of the madness and into the arms of their beloved Great Uncle. That morning, a Tourist Trap turned giant robot stood at the heart of the insanity.

Sheba stood on the roof of the Shacktron, head held high, chest puffed out, thin trails of smoke leaking from the corners of her mouth and wings spared to their full length. A challenge, that’s what they would call it in her homeland, a challenge for Bill Cipher to come out of his pyramid in the sky and fight. 

She knew, of course, that this was technically a rescue mission and she was meant to keep the group in the shack safe while the rescue team got Ford and the people Cipher had captured out of Bill’s clutches but the dream demon had messed with everything that the dragoness held near and dear for far too long in her mind. He was the root of most of the problems within her clan after all, not all but more then enough of them. 

She screeched out a war cry along with Soos and rose on her hind legs while beating her wings. A snarl of frustration rose in her throat when, rather then the triangle that she wanted to set on fire, Bill’s cohorts came out to fight against them. ‘Oh well, might have a little practice,’ she thought as she launched into the air and started snapping winged eyeballs out of the sky. Sheba swooped and spun, lashing out with claws and teeth.

She let out a growl of sinister satisfaction when the master of the hoard showed himself. She swooped down the second she saw an opening and unleashed her fire. Bill yelled in surprise when the flame met its mark and Sheba let out a roar of triumph before firing another round.

She spied the rescue group out of the corner of her eye when Bill started attacking the Shacktron. She smirked and swooped down again, roaring out insults.

“OH, WELL THAT IS JUST RUDE!” Bill yelled in repose to her roar.

Sheba laughed and roared out more vulgar insults, both from her homeland and a few she had learned from her adopted human hatchling, while spitting fire at Cipher’s eye.

Sheba didn’t know how long the fight had gone on, but she hoped that the rescues team would return soon. Her wings were becoming sore and her throat was getting painfully dry from all the fire breathing. Her weakening state must have shown somehow, because Bill’s giant hand was suddenly right in front of her and the world spun. 

Sheba yelped in pain when she landed hard on her left wing and skidded across the ground. She lay there stunned, panting heavily and trying to stop the world from tilting. Slowly, she rolled onto her stomach and tried to flap her left wing. She hissed when moving proved to be quite painful, the idea of flying with it made her cringe.

Sheba stood and tucked her bad wing in as close as she could, which wasn’t much seeing as how it was still hung limp at her side. It wasn’t broken, she hadn’t heard the bone snap, but she did have a very serve sprain at the least.

With a shake of her head, the dragoness turned in the direction of the battle in time to see a flood of townsfolk running out of the Fearamind and the Shacktron collapsing.

With a screech, she bounded towards the towns people, ignoring the screams of terror in favor of fending off some of Bill’s monsters with a bust of flame.

The dragon circled around the group, fighting off the larger monsters and letting the Gravity Falls residents handle the smaller ones. 

They all fought as hard as they could but they ended up surrounded. Sheba snarled and swiped at the pink female demon, flapping her good wing in an attempt to look more intimidating. The effect was not quite as impressive when she was out of fire and a lame wing.

And then the ground started shake. Sheba blinked in confusion as all the creatures from the nightmare realm and all the madness that Bill had brought with him was pulled upwards and back threw the rift into their own diminution.

The world gave another shake as the Fearamid crumbled and the gateway closed. The flash of light blinded Sheba momentarily. When her eyes readjusted, everything was back to normal.

Sheba blinked again then rose on her hind legs and unleashed a victorious roar. ‘THEY DID IT! THEY DEFEATED CIPHER!’

A collective cheer ran threw the townspeople and creatures as the reality of the fact that they had won settled in their minds.

A very familiar shout made Sheba turn to see Soos running over and hugging her fore leg, “We beat the evil triangle dude!” He cried out happily and Sheba rumbled back while licking the young mans face.

She scanned the crowd for the rest of her clan but frowned when she didn’t see any more faces she recognized.

With a quite huff she used another means of location, the enchanted amulet she had given to her Fiery Spirit. It wasn’t really very extraordinary compared to some magical items but it did help her keep an eye on her hatchling, making it easier to find him if scent tracking wasn’t of much use.

She trotted off, Soos following and asking if she knew where Mr. Pines, other Mr. Pines and the little dudes were. She rumbled reassuringly to him as they went into the forest.

As the aura of the amulet grew stronger, Sheba picked up her pace, excitement making her want to move more quickly. Her excitement, however, ebbed away when the trees started to thin and she saw a small group in a clearing.

Mabel was crying, that alone was very, very wrong. Her Pure of Spirit hatchling was not supposed to cry like that. Dipper was holding his siter close and she could tell he was holding back tears. A little ways from the younger hatchlings, were the older two. At first glance, it looked as though Stan was hugging his brother, but Sheba could see that it was actually Ford who was hugging Stan. The two were wearing each others clothing for some reason.

Soos went ahead of her and crouched next to the children, Sheba moved past them, planning on checking on her Fiery Spirit while Soos handled Dipper and Mabel.

She stopped dead when Stan looked at her.

He didn’t smile or offer a tired wave or even try and stand to meet her halfway. He looked up at her with terror.

It felt like a slap to the face to see Stan looking at her like that, even when they had first met he hadn’t looked that frightened of her. Sheba made a low whine and lowered her self in an attempted to look less intimidating.

Ford turned at the sound to look at her then turned back to Stan, “It’s alright Stan, she’s a friend.”

Stan looked from Ford to Sheba then back to Ford, “That’s a dragon.”

“A friendly dragon, she won’t hurt you.”

Stan looked back at her but none of the fear had left his eyes. Sheba gave another little whimper before shuffling back a few paces. Her distance seemed to put Stan more at ease.

Sheba kept the distance and listened as the kids explained what had happened to Soos. She helped in herding the little ones to the side so their great uncles could trade their clothes back. When the group headed back to the shack she followed, keeping her distance once again so as not to make Stan uncomfortable. The thought of her adopted hatchling being uncomfortable near her was metaphorical another slap in the face and made her ears droop. When the group reached home, Sheba lied down next to the porch while the humans went inside.

Sheba sighed and put her head on her folded fore legs. Dipper and Mabel had said that Stan had sacrificed his mind in order to destroy Bill. The memory gun had left her hatchling little more then a shell of his former self. 

Sheba shut her eyes and let out another sad whimper as her own memories began to swirl in her mind.

She remembered, clear as day, when Stan had first fallen into her cave. She had been confused when she woke up and saw a human sitting right next to her, most didn’t even come this deep into the forest. Yet there one had been, staring up at her with a mixture of fear and awe. She remembered how he had tried to, as he called it, smooth talk his way out of a tight spot. She had found his words more humorous then anything else, but she had no interest in causing him any harm so she showed him the way out.

She remembered how surprised she had been when, two days later, she returned from hunting to find the human in the entrance of her cave. She had been quite happy to see him again and was more then happy to help when he asked if she had a book hidden in her cave. She remembered how they had searched her entire hoard and cave and found nothing. Stan had been so devastated when they couldn’t find anything and she had seen how sad and lonely he was. She knew, quite well, how awful feeling alone felt and didn’t want this brown haired blue eyed human to suffer threw something of that nature.

So, she had remedied the problem the only way she knew how, by taking him in as her own. She had given him some things from her hoard and the amulet from her homeland as a sign of accepting him as part of her clan. She remembered walking with him back to his shack and wishing him goodnight.

She remembered his frequent visits to her cave and when she had pushed her way into the house when he didn’t visit for almost a week. She remembered when he had told her about his brother and about his childhood in New Jersey. When he had brought her down to the basement and told her about the tragedy that occurred there.

She remembered when he had asked if he could call her Sheba and how she had started to call him Fiery Spirit. She remembered going with him to look for his brothers journals, when he told her that they needed to start being more careful because he hired a new handy man, when he said he had family coming over. She remembered the fear she felt when she saw the undead taking over the Mystery Shack, the joy when her hatchling and the kids won the night with a song, how content and warm she had felt when they all sat down to watch the television.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by footstep coming her way. She lifted her head, hoping it was Stan, but it was Stanford who appeared in the broken doorway holding a large piece of cloth.

“I…um…” he paused on the porch steps and gestured to her wing. “Your wing doesn’t look so good so…I thought I could help you out a bit…”

Sheba blinked at him before giving a rumble of approval and shifting a bit so her bad wing could be better accessed. Ford nodded and moved closer so he could examine Sheba’s injury.

“Your wing doesn’t look broken just sprained pretty badly, but you likely have some muscle bruising and you have a lot of lacerations and a nasty scrap.”

Sheba made a questioning grunt and turned her head to have a look. She had noticed the wing injury but the bruises, cuts and scrapes were news to her. But sure enough, her left side was cut up like she had…well, like she’d been thrown to the ground and skidded a few feet.

“We’d best wash these out before I fix up your wing. I would recommend stitches but…I don’t think the supplies we have would be good enough. The thread would likely snap before I even got finished.” 

Sheba churred softly, hoping Ford would understand that the wing was the only thing they really had to worry about.

When the thoughtful expression didn’t leave the humans face, Sheba huffed and swiped her tail so it hooked the hose lying behind her and threw it to Ford’s feet. The man blinked at it for a few seconds, “That could work for cleaning your injuries.”

Sheba warbled and bobbed her head.

Ford contemplated the hose for another moment before picking it up and turning it on. Sheba hissed as the cold water hit her injuries but stayed still until Ford was satisfied and did her best to help in tying the large cloth tarp around her wing and secure it to her side. 

“That should be good, how does it feel?” Sheba gave a rumble and a smile, butting Fords shoulder lightly.

The man cracked a small smile and patted her head before his face grew solemn again. He trudged back to the porch and sat on the steps, burying his face in his hands. Sheba rumbled questioningly and walked over so she could sit next to Ford.

“I am such an idiot,” Ford mumbled. “I was so stupid and it took losing my brother to see it. I couldn’t even get passed a petty grudge from forty years ago.”

Sheba warbled and nuzzled at his neck. Yes, she agreed he had be stupid and she was angry at how Ford had treated her hatchling but she wasn’t so angry she couldn’t recognize the fact that the Stanford had seen his mistakes and was being torn apart by the guilt. 

Ford lowered a hand so he could peek out at Sheba, “Starting to see why you were always so cross with me. I deserved much worse then getting smoked it the face a few times.”

Sheba’s ears twitched back and snorted. Smoke seemed to be enough to her, it had worked well enough with Stan when he got too reckless even for her taste or when the kids acted out of turn one time to many.

“And I’m not the only one who’s lost Stan,” Ford’s voice was starting to wobbled a bit. “The kids, Soos, you. I’ve taken Stan away from everyone and there’s no way to get him back and I can’t make things up to him now all because I didn’t want to face my guilt and-”

Sheba knew he was rambling. Stan did the same thing when he was upset and about to cry. With a comforting rumble, Sheba wrapped a fore claw around Ford and hugged him to her chest. The man stiffed at the contact for a few seconds before going almost limp and burying his face into Sheba’s furry chest and cried.

Sheba rumbled softly and started carefully grooming Ford, cleaning off the dirt and grim from his hair and skin and soothing the nasty burn wound on his neck.

Sheba wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, with Ford crying into her chest and saying how he was sorry while she gave him comforting licks and nuzzles, but the sound of small feet pounding on floorboards made both human and dragon look up. Dipper stood in the doorway with one of the biggest smiles Sheba had ever seen on the boys face.

“He’s remembering!” He said. “Grunkle Stan is remembering!”

****************

It took a week of flipping threw Mabel’s scrapbooks and Sheba pulling down whatever past memorabilia she knew Stan had for the man’s memories to return somewhat fully. There were still a few gaps and blank places but the family didn’t care because their Stanley Pines was back and it was more then any of them had hoped for.

And just in time for Dipper and Mabel’s birthday.

Sheba had been ecstatic when the kids told her that, since the whole town knew about her, she could attend their thirteenth birthday party. She had picked threw her hoard for hours before deciding on the flashiest, most multi colored necklace she could find for Mabel and one of her books that she was pretty sure was on paranormal events for Dipper. Reading human language was not a strong suit for her but Ford and Stan had said Dipper would like it so her guess must be correct.

She was overjoyed when Mabel gushed excitedly and put the necklace on while Dipper eagerly flipped threw the book.

She was a bit surprised when Stan said he had an announcement and even more surprised when Soos interrupted her Fiery Spirit with a speech of his own. Then overjoyed again when Stan handed ownership over to a very shocked a tearful Handyman.

The rest of the party went by in relative normality, with much cheering and cake. Sheba loved every second and a part of her wished it would never end.

But it eventually had to end. 

Sheba and the kids said their goodbyes at the house, since they all doubted the bus driver would be as quite about a dragon as the rest of the town. Both kids hugged her neck and Mabel insisted that, once Sheba’s wing finished healing that she had to take Stan and Ford on a bonding flight. Sheba rumbled a promise to do just that before Stan called the kids with a gruff, “We’re gonna miss your bus.”

Sheba waved goodbye as they left then squeezed into the house. She curled up in the living room, next to Stan’s chair, to wait for the return of her hatchling and his brother. Actual, now that she was thinking about it, Ford had pretty much become another hatchling to her along with Stan, the younger twins, Soos and Wendy over the past week. She had given him a dragon name after all. Well, kind of anyway, Stupid Genius was just what Stan always called his twin and it seemed fitting enough to her.

She smiled to herself as she thought of her adopted hatchlings, the little clan that had come to be because of a young human falling down a hole. It felt good to have a family again after so many years of being on her own.

She must have dozed because the next thing she knew, an all too familiar hand was scratching at her ears. She lifted her head and smiled at her Fiery Spirit.

“Morning Sheba,” Stan laughed. “Have a good nap?”

Sheba snorted affectionately in his face before pulling him to her chest.

“Sheba!”

‘I know you love this,’ she rumbled as she put her head down so he neck trapped Stan’s legs.

“Ford! I’m being held against my will!”

Sheba chuckled as Ford walked in from the kitchen to see what his sibling was yelling about. The second he was within reach of her, the dragoness caught Ford around his middle and pulled him into the hug.

“Hey! Sheba no!” Ford protested, but Sheba just huffed and trapped him.

Stan laughed at Fords attempts to escape and settled against Sheba’s neck, “Yeah, now we’re stuck. Make yourself comfortable Sixer.”

Ford huffed and slumped back so he was leaning on Sheba’s shoulder. Sheba chuckled and closed her eyes, listening as her two hatchling’s breathing evened and deepened.

********

Two weeks after Dipper and Mabel’s departure found Sheba strengthening her wing behind the Shack while Stan and Ford were out boat shopping.

When the question of when the two should set sail, Stan had insisted they not do anything until Sheba’s wing was out of a sling. Ford had taken off the tarp turned wing sling two days ago and told Sheba that she should do only stretches and light flying until it was at full strength.

Sheba was dead set on taking both her Fiery Spirit and her Stupid Genius for a flight before they went on their adventures at sea and to do that she needed her wing back to normal fast. She had promised Mabel after all.

She would stretched and flap the wing before fluttering onto the roof of the Mystery Shack and glide down again for a warm up, then try a takeoff and try to get as high as she could as fast as she could. Probably not what Ford had been thinking of but it worked for her.

It took almost four days, far to long for her taste, but once she felt confident she could carry a human again without her wing giving out she went in search of her hatchling.

Both were hesitant, Stan because he thought it was too soon after her wing healed and Ford because he was both worried about Sheba’s wing and riding a dragon bareback high up in the sky. But they caved and climb on board.

Stanford yell of fearful excitement and Stan’s whoop of joy was like music to her ears.

They flew over the entirety of Gravity Falls that day, going at a very slow pace and taking in the scenery. Ford had been more then happy to start pointing out various places in the forest once his initial shock at the fact he was hundreds of feet above the tree line wore off.

It was getting close to sunset before Stan patting Sheba’s neck and said, “Best head home Sheba.” She rumbled in agreement before turning around.

“I forgot how much I’ve missed this,” Stan sighed and leaned forward so that he was essentially lying on Sheba’s neck.

“I thought you were petrified of heights,” Ford said.

Stan laughed, “Yeah, until Mabel found out about it. Glad she did, otherwise I would have never started doing this.”

“Flying?”

“Yup.”

Sheba smiled. She was glad Mabel had scared the fear out of her hatchling as well.

When the Shack came into view, Sheba grinned as an idea came to her. Rather then landing in the yard or the Shack’s parking lot, she touched down on the roof.

“Why did she land her?” Ford asked as he slid off Sheba and onto the roof.

“That’s why,” Stan stated and gestured towards the east.

The sunset was a sight to behold. Bright golden rays of sunlight seemed to dance threw the trees and bath everything they touched in various shades of yellow and red, while the sky was a mix of reds, blue, purples and gold’s.

“Always a sucker for a good sunset,” Stan chuckled and patted Sheba’s neck.

Sheba chuckled back and smiled, feeling a comforting warmth spread threw her entire body.

The three watched the sun sick further down until the golden color when to a deep, dark blue with white sparkles of the night sky, all content and happy and at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And end....  
> Or not quite. Do not fear readers for this will soon be a collection of Dragon Mom stories.   
> I am thinking about doing a little one shot of Stan's past coming to bite him and Sheba biting the past right back and a little mini series of Mullet Stan and his new dragon mom's misadventures.  
> No clue how long it will take for me to get them up but hopefully soon.  
> Thank you for reading, commenting and giving Kudos. Hope ya'll have an awesome day. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews and Kudos are much appreciated.  
> Thank you pinesinthewoods and the people who sent dragon mom stuff to the tumblr page for re motivating me to write a thing.  
> Hope ya'll have a lovely day :)


End file.
